“We, in the countryside know all about ecology.” Contestations and appropriations of environmental injunctions by rural Yellow Vests

This paper explores the stigmatisation of rural lifestyles as “anti-ecological”, particularly through the mobilisation of the yellow vests. Although initially criticised for their opposition to the carbon tax, the yellow vests express a wider sense of injustice towards an ecological tax perceived as unfair. They share attitudes in favour of environmental protection, but are wary of the moralising rhetoric of mainstream ecology and its injunctions.A fruit and vegetable distribution network created by a group of yellow vests appears to be a place where a variety of ecological sensitivities can be observed. The article sheds light on the diversity of ways in which institutional ecology is contested, on a differentiated appropriation of ecological challenge and on the denunciation of other actors in environmental degradation. Faced with a static image of class boundaries, the yellow vests who are close to the middle classes with cultural capital adopt the “live with less” approach and experiment with relatively radical ecological conversions. The working-class yellow vests, on the other hand, see their sober lifestyles as ecological and may align themselves with committed consumer practices.